


A not so helpful wake up.

by Balderdash4



Series: Recovery with Blankets [2]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Chris makes everything better, Josh feels, Josh has PTSD, M/M, People being unknowing jerks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, exorJosh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8010460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Balderdash4/pseuds/Balderdash4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris had finally convinced Josh to go to the private beach with him. And everyone else.</p><p>Things go very wrong when Josh relaxes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A not so helpful wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy, and if you liked it, give your support, it really means a lot.
> 
> Please excuse the lack of swearing, I just don't like it.

Josh knew meeting up with friends could go sideways. The risks are obvious; you could be humiliated, you could hurt your friendship, and in severe cases, you could pull and prank and almost get them killed.

That last one is a rare case. But Josh still managed.

Good for Josh.

This was less planned, and less in the sense that it wasn't planned. It was a unplanned disaster, which Josh is very familiar with.

Also good for Josh.

It started with Chris insisting he keep to his promise and go with everyone to the beach. A private beach, not a public one, but that's a given.

"Come on Josh, it'll be fun. This will be like all the other times you met them, you've been getting really good with being less of douche." Chris was standing outside the bed, already dressed and ready like a normal person. Stupid normal people.

"Go away Cochise. It's raining too hard to go out." Josh muffled back, his mouth blocked by his pillow. He had stayed up late last night, watching a comedy marathon that was playing from 10-4.

Ahh regret, it's like a cousin to him. An annoying cousin. That's always over. And steals your lucky charms. The cereal, not actual lucky charms. Josh didn't have any besides Chris. Nobody steals Chris.

Speaking of Chris, he was over by the windows, which only spells trouble.

Trouble that came in the form of curtains being thrown upon, letting the bright morning sun beam onto Josh's face.

"It's not raining Josh, you can't get out of this that easy. Now, up and at em! We got places to be! It's going to be great!"

"Cochise?"

"Yeah Josh?"

"Come closer."

Shuffling two feet, Chris stopped beside the middle of the edge. Like a snake, Josh's arm snapped out from under the blankets and grabbed Chris's middle, yanking him onto the bed. Arranging Chris, Josh's other hand went underneath Chris's body and he clasped his own hand, securing Chris in place. His right leg lazily flopped over Chris's and hugged him closer.

"Better." Josh mumbled, planting a kiss onto the back of Chris's neck.

"No Josh. This is not better. We're going to be late and unlike you, I like to be places on time."

"Shhh..." Josh lazily whispered back, closing his eyes.

Chris gave a sigh before spinning around and faced Josh. "We can get pizza on the way back."

Josh's eye cracked open.

"From the place I like?"

"From the place you like."

The blankets flew up and settled, revealing a wide awake, standing Josh.

"What are we waiting for, come on Chris. Unlike you, I like to be places on time." Josh said, throwing on a pair of blue swim trunks Chris left out for him and a t-shirt from off the floor. Chris gave a laugh and got up off the bed, and headed out the door with Josh trailing like a puppy behind him.

 

When they arrived at the (private) beach everyone was already there. Sam, Ashley, Mike, and Matt were having what looked like a splash fight, while Jess and Emily were sunbathing on some of the laid out towels with a huge umbrella above them. There was a messy stack of food and beach stuff beside them. Josh spied a trail of clothes along the bright white sand leading the water, where waves were starting to splash and knocking over the guys while the girls laughed at their expense. Chris called out to everyone and Josh watched them all look over and wave. He waved back. Josh and Chris dumped their stuff on the "pile" and Chris threw off his shirt and walked towards the water. Josh stayed behind and plunked himself on one of the towels.

"You guys are late." Jess said, ever the observer.

"You know Chris, he wouldn't get out of bed." Josh replied with a smirk. Josh quickly reminded himself to not be self conscious about his scar. It still didn't heal.

Emily smirked back. "Knowing you I'm sure. Let me guess; he bribed you with pizza while you held him to the bed?"

Josh looked away bashfully. "No." He lied, his cheeks blushing.

"Yeah right," Jess said, playfully smacking his arm, "You, ever the Saint, tried to get Chris, always-punctual-unless-dead Chris, out of bed because you wanted to go so badly, and he didn't."

"Hit the nail on the head Jess."

Emily and Jess gave him identical disbelieving stares.

"Aren't you guys gonna swim?" Josh asked, attempting to change the subject, "It's a beautiful day out, Chris says there's no rain."

"I can see that." Jess said. "Well, what do you say Em, care to join in laughing at the boys poor attempts of balance."

"Always." replied Emily with finality. "Josh you gonna come?"

"Nah. I'm gonna try to catch up on some sun. It's been a while since I've been out." Josh said, hoping they didn't press the matter.

"Alright, don't catch too much, leave some for the rest of us." Emily said, her and Jess walking towards the water.

"No promises." Josh said absent mindedly. He was too focused on the water now. He still remember how his sis-... the Wendigo, had plucked him out of it. 'Plucked might not be the right word', Josh thought, 'more like snatched violently.' Josh didn't even like taking baths anymore as they reminded him too clearly of that murky pool of death.

This was why Josh didn't want to come to the beach. His friends, sadly being friends, might try to get him to come in the water. Josh had never told them, there was never a need. His boyfriend didn't even know. It was weird calling Chris his boyfriend. Josh had never had one before. People always assumed he was great with the ladies and one night stands and relationships but he really wasn't. He was afraid of them.

It's a pretty ridiculous thing to be afraid, especially since Josh knew that monsters were real, and not just all in his head, but he couldn't help it. Josh was afraid of a lot of things though; clowns, mascots, crowds, the dark, stuffed animals that weren't Chris, water.

God he hated water. Josh closed his eyes and tried to relax his soon to be racing mind, that is, if he didn't stop it. What had Josh's therapist said, listen to soothing music. He pulled out his phone and earbuds and started scrolling through his (illegally downloaded) music. Nothing much for regular soothing, but his therapist probably meant his kind of soothing. So Josh put in his earbud and blasted some very soothing hard rock. Josh closed his eyes again and let his head fall back onto the sand with a soft thump. It's very soothing when you can't hear your thoughts.

 

"Hey guys, I think Josh is sleeping." Mike said, getting a devious look in his eye. He looked around to the others. "Let's wake him up." The others nodded their heads in agreement, some immediately and some hesitantly.

 

Josh woke up when he was lifted into the air. Panicking, Josh ripped out his earbuds and let his phone fall to sand. Twisting around, Josh's heart almost gave out when he realized he couldn't see what was happening. All he could feel was hands on him, suffocating him. The memory came upon him in his moment of weakness. The Wendigo gave a shriek as it snatched him up by his neck, letting him dangle there as he flailed around uselessly. Josh tried in vain to stop himself from getting strangled. Horror filled eyes roamed over the towering creature above him, and Josh's eyes froze as they landed on it's arm. "Hannah?" It was barely audible to him as his eyes flashed back to the Wendigo, disbelieving horror etched on his face. Crying out as it's grip tightened Jo-

Josh came too when he was dumped into water. Flailing and twisting, Josh tried to free himself from the hands, and lashing out, his fist made contact. The hands loosened, and taking the opportunity, he scrambled out of the grasp. To late did Josh realize he was inhaling water, and sputtering, Josh's feet found ground and he pushed his head above the water. Josh's head hit something and he heard a grunt of pain, but all he was focused on was getting to cover, to a hidey-hole, to safety, anywhere away from the monsters and the water.

Josh's terrified, sun filled gaze could barely see, but it was enough so that he could see a bright white land mass. His skin started to burn, and as much as he hated the dark, that's where he wanted to be. His cheek burned like the sun that hurt his skin, but he ignored it and ran to the brightest mass. Land. Josh's feet kicked up torrents of water as he ran across with speed and strength he didn't have, but he was being driven by a primal need to get to the dark.

Josh landed on something solid that he could feel beneath his fingers. Hunched over on his knees, he started to cough and hack up water. Josh let his head hang as he tried to make sense of his overloaded senses. There was too much noise, people saying his name over and over again, the roar of the water, the bright sun that was blocking his sight. Josh could only see through a milky film now, so when he felt something touch his shoulder, his instincts took over.

Josh jumped three feet in the air and landed far away, still in a hunched position, but his feet were squatted, ready to move and the slightest sound of movement he heard. Josh bared his teeth and gave out a low growl that reverberated through his throat. His skin burned.

Something's wrong.

Josh couldn't hear any speaking anymore. His skin burned. His... teeth... were... bared....

Something was very, very, wrong.

Blinking, Josh tried to clear his mind and this film that was obscuring his eyes. He tried to relax his tense muscles and loosen his jaw.

The first thing Josh saw was Chris. Then Sam. Then Jess. Things started to clear, and he was able to see the faces of his pre-... friends, Josh told himself. Mute horror was clearly written on most of their faces. Josh's now clear gaze fell to Chris, who was staring at him with something he couldn't read. Not in his still frenzied state. Josh looked down and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but it whipped back up when he heard movement. Baring his teeth and giving out a warning growl, Josh heard the movement still. All was quiet.

"Josh?"

Staring into Chris's eyes, Josh felt himself relax. He gave a chitter in reply, hating he couldn't manage to say more. His cheek burned and ached. He sat onto his haunches.

"Josh, I'm going to come to you, okay? Just me."

Chris put his foot forward, and Josh strained to stay as still as a statue. He turned his head lopsided and stared as Chris slowly made his way near.

Chris had finally come two paces in front of Josh where he stopped. Josh and Chris's stared at each other. Josh waited a beat. Then two. Josh slowly, very slowly, lifted up his right hand. And put it down. Then his left leg, his right, and finally his left hand.

Josh was hunched in front of Chris. His head went lopsided again.

In a rush Josh realized what he did, what happened, who he was standing in front of and finally, what his body was doing.

Lurching back, Josh whipped his head over his shoulder and scanned back and forth trying to find a safe place to hide until everything on earth died. Or until he did. Whichever came first, Josh wasn't picky. Josh stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. A hand he remembered feeling many times. A hand that pulled him out of every nightmare, every bad memory, every bad place in his head, and brought Josh back home.

It was Chris's hand.

Chris didn't care that he was in this state, that Josh could kill him. Chris didn't care Josh had freaked out. Chris didn't care Josh let the Wendigo rear its ugly head. And Chris didn't care Josh had ripped open his cheek and it was bleeding again.

It was bleeding again.

Josh licked at the blood and shivered.

The hand stayed.

Chris squeezed his shoulder and looked into Josh's eyes. Josh listened to Chris and slowly stood up, his joints popping. Josh stared into Chris's eyes for the whole transaction, and Chris stared back. Josh shook his head one last time to clear it again, and when he looked up, Chris grabbed his gaze.

Chris looped his arms under Josh's and pulled Josh in for a unexpected totally manly hug, that might have been a bit too tight. Josh relished every second. Josh let his raised arms fall onto Chris's shoulders, and his fingers clung to Chris's back. Chris's hand reached up to the back of Josh's head and pulled Josh's head onto his neck. Josh buried his face into Chris's shoulder and felt Chris's heart move next to his. They were just a little out of sync.

"I missed you man." Chris murmured. Josh's head went deeper into the crook of Chris's neck.

"I missed me too Cochise." Josh muffled out.

Chris gave a relieved laugh. Josh remembered their audience and shyly shuffled him and Chris around so Chris was facing their friends. Chris looked up and Josh could feel Chris's affectionate smile radiate. Chris must have used his eyes to silently communicate something Josh couldn't tell, because he could hear them all shuffling around, and getting their things. When the last car left, Josh pulled his right then left leg onto Chris's body, and clung, silently asking Chris to carry him. Chris started walking to his car, where it was already packed. Josh noticed that Chris was wet, but that was ok. Josh fell asleep on the way to the car, still hanging onto him. He stayed sleeping until the next morning when he woke up in bed, with dry hair, new dry clothes, a pizza box from his favorite place on the night stand, and the best part of anything; Chris, sleeping beside him. Josh smiled to himself and threw his arm around Chris.

Things would be ok, because Chris makes everything better.

These blankets were nice too though.


End file.
